Disclaimer: The only character who is of my creation is Natalie Ford.

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday-I totally meant to! To made up for that I've updated twice today! And I'm happy to point out that they are both pretty sizable chapters, indeed! And remember reviews are king! The more detailed the better! I'd like to give a shout out to "NumbnessforSound" who gave me a nice long one that made me literally laugh out loud. And to everyone else who has reviewed so far-You guys give me the warm fuzzies!

Enjoy:

CHAPTER EIGHT: DREW THE GENIUS

I woke up relatively early Sunday morning, squinting against the light flooding through my bedroom window. My muscles were horribly sore and the bruises felt tender, as they had every morning since my 'encounter' with Fitz and Owen. I was used to it by now but still terribly resentful.

I went into the bathroom with my ACE bandage, wrapping it carefully around my chest (it's the first thing I do every morning. I just don't feel right au natural, if you know what I mean) then headed downstairs to make myself a bowl of cereal. As I took the first bite, I realized the house was far too quiet. My parents had already left for work (even on Sundays!), which wasn't unusual. However, Drew was usually around here somewhere, blasting heavy metal and jumping around to get pumped for Sunday football practice or loudly cheering on some sports game on the television.

"Andrew?" I called, getting up and walking down the hall. "Andrew?" When there was no sign of him anywhere downstairs, I went up into his room. The blinds were closed so the room was shadowy and dark; I went over to the window and yanked them open. Little dust particles flew into the air, glistening in the rays of the sun.

There, amidst a tangle of navy blue sheets and last night's socks was a note. I picked it up and read it.

"Bro—

BRB.

–D"

I couldn't help it; I had to laugh out loud. Wow. Very articulate, Andrew, I thought. He was never out this early—What could he be up to? I pocketed the note, and then I went downstairs to finish my cereal.

BRB had apparently didn't mean "be right back" anymore but be back in 6 hours because I was in the living room reading a comic in the mid afternoon by the time Drew came threw the front door.

"Hola, Brosef," he said, plopping down on the couch next to me as though he'd just nipped out for some milk.

"Where were you?" I asked.

"I went out to get something," he responded vaguely.

"For 6 hours?" I said incredulously. "What could take so long to buy?"

Andrew just flashed me an impish smile, reminiscent of Eli. "I can't believe you spend the whole day shopping," I said, trying not to get angry. "You told me you had a solution for my…" I contemplated the right words. "—Hugging problem". Drew still said nothing but it looked like he was having difficulty doing so. "We're wasting daylight here!" I exclaimed, finally. "Well?"

"Okay, okay…Keep your beanie on," said Drew at last. "I went out to get this". That's when I notice there was a thick plastic bag near his feet. He raised it onto his lap and pulled out something black with a flourish. "TA-DA!" He shouted, beaming with pride. It looked like a tank top.

"What is it?" I asked, anti-climatically.

"The solution to your 'Hugging problem. Duh.'" he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. When my expression remained puzzled, he elaborated. "It's a compression top from a company called 'Underworks'…It's pretty much a fancy, more effective binder".

He threw it onto my lap, it landed on my comic book. I held it out in front of me, feeling the fabric. The top part that went over those things on my chest (I shuddered to name them) was made of this thick-ish, squeezing material, perhaps spandex? Then it came down over my stomach in soft cotton, just like a shirt.

"Wow," I said. "Where did you get this?"

"I know a guy," was all Drew said.

"And you're sure this thing works?" I asked.

"If we do everything right…guaranteed" he declared.

"Isn't a little small?" I observed. It looked significantly smaller than my normal tank tops.

"Do you want to control all of this?" he waved his hands over his own chest a few times. I frowned.

"Yes," I said.

"Then you'll have to get used to it," he informed me.

"Wow," I said again. Drew laughed.

"I can't believe I know about these things and you don't," he teased. "You're, like, the worst trans-guy ever…Haven't you ever heard of the Internet?"

"Yes," I said, "I have heard of the internet, thanks very much…wait a minute, how do you know about these?"

Drew looked down at his shoes when I asked the question.

"Well," he told me. "When you came out as, you know, a guy, I went on the internet and learned all I could about transgender-ness and stuff…You know, I thought the more I understood, the more I could help you out".

"You voluntarily read something that wasn't the sports section in a newspaper? For me?" I asked, pretending to be awe-struck.

I was kidding around at that moment but I was truly very touched. I thought about how much I really loved my brother. Of course, I didn't tell him that because guys don't do that. I opted to give him a man-hug, instead.

"Come here, you dumb jock," I said, advancing on him.

"Alright, alright. Don't get all mushy on me" he said, after I finished hugging him but he was smiling widely. "Just show me I done good…Go try it on".

And so I rushed into the nearest bathroom and did just that; and I must admit, that is way easier said than done. Like I said, it was smaller than most things I try to fit into and the tender bruises all over my person sure didn't help.

When I finished putting it on, I turned around to look at myself in the bathroom mirror. Wow.

I turned to one side, and then the other.

And even just standing here in the bathroom in nothing but the binder, it looked pretty much completely flat. I mean, thank the powers that be, I've never had that much in the first place but this was…

"Amazing," I breathed out loud to myself.

I've been doing this all wrong, I thought. I turned to my other side again, unable to take my eyes off my flat chest. I decided to try on my baggy flannel shirt over it, to see how it would look.

This just keeps getting better and better, I thought excitedly, just as finished buttoning the last button and saw that it looked as flat as can be. I didn't care that it felt a little tight. I didn't care that it would take some getting used to.

I just kept staring and staring until…

Knock, knock.

"Adam?" Drew called from the other side of the door. "You've been in there for, like, over half an hour…Are you still alive?"

I took one more glance in the mirror, straightened my beanie and then threw open the door.

"You are a genius!" I shouted at my brother.

"Wow," said Drew. "That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me..." He was grinning. "Feels good," he added, raising his eyebrows

"What do you think?" I said, spreading my arms. "Can you tell?"

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" he joked. "I don't see a thing". I punched him on the arm.

We were grinning at each other in triumph went he added "We can't celebrate just yet…We still need to perform a hug test".

"What do you mean?"

"You know, a hug test. You might not be able to see them," he nodded his head once towards my chest. "But that doesn't mean someone won't be able to feel them when you hug".

"Okay," I said, taking a step towards him with my arms out. "Hug me, brother!"

"It work with me," he said, I'm too football player-ey," he said, "We need to find someone skinny and small, like Natalie".

Just then the doorbell rang.

I went to open the door, a new spring in my step. It was Wesley Betenkamp, Drew's science tutor.

"Hi, I'm Wesley…Wesley Betenkamp," he said in his usually awkward manner, straightening his glasses. "Is Drew here?"

"Wesley, we have 3 classes together and you come to my house at least once a week to tutor Drew…I know who you are," I said, amused.

All he did was cough in response.

"Drew! Billy Nye is here!" I called to my brother in the other room.

"Bill who?" he asked, appearing in the hallway. "I don't know anybody named Bill". Then he came up behind me and spotted Wesley. "His name's Wesley…"

I rolled my eyes.

"Bill Nye the science guy?" I asked. "Get it?" Drew raised an eyebrow. "C'mon!" I explained. "This is comedy gold".

"Yeah, whatever," said Drew, looking at me like I was an alien. "Come on in Wesley, let's go in the dining room". Wesley, carrying a backpack that looked rather heavy, went ahead but Drew hung back and whispered, "I think that binder is too tight…Not enough oxygen is getting to your brain". He tapped his temple and turned to leave.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash that came from the dining room. Drew and I rushed in together to find Wesley had fallen, books and papers spilled on the floor around him.

"Are you okay?" asked Drew, offering his hand to help Wesley up and trying not to laugh.

"Yeah," said Wesley, turning red from embarrassment. "The books were a little heavy…I have skinny arms".

At those words, Drew's face lit up.

"Perfect!" he exclaimed, grabbing me and pulling me towards Wesley. "Wesley, hug my brother".

"Wha-at?" asked Wesley and I in unison, both looking at Drew.

"He's small and skinny," Drew told me. "—No offense, Wes" he added to Wesley.

"None taken," squeaked Wesley, eyes still wide with bewilderment.

I took a deep breath. Drew had a point. I mean, Wesley was skinnier than Natalie but he was small—The best option at this point and I really needed to know if this thing worked.

"Fine, just do it," I said, taking a step forward and bracing myself.

"Uh, I'd rather not…" said Wesley, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looking horrified.

"No homo, bro," Drew told him, hitting him on the shoulder (Wesley winced). "It's all in the name of science". Wesley glanced at me, then at Drew and then at me again.

"In the name of science…" he repeated, and after a moment or two, proceeded to hug me.

"Well?" Drew and I asked, together, when Wesley stepped back.

"Well, what?" echoed Wesley. "I'm not sure what I was supposed to be proving…?"

"Did you feel anything, there?" asked Drew eagerly.

"Where?"

"In the chest-al region?" Drew explained, gesturing to his chest. Wesley looked as if he was going to be sick.

"You mean…You mean…?" he stuttered.

"Did you feel any boob-age?" snapped Drew, impatiently.

"Oh god," said Wesley, turning even more green, at the same time I exclaimed "Drew!", completely taken aback by his bluntness.

"Sorry, bro…There's no other way to put it," he said, shrugging.

"I'm one hundred percent positive, there is," I informed him, amused.

"Well?" Drew asked again. "Did you?"

"No…" said Wesley, at last.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I mean, he didn't know what he was looking for so maybe he missed it?

"Yes," he answered shortly.

"Positive?" I pressed.

"Guys!" Wesley snapped. "I've never come in contact with a female breast…If I had, just now, I think I would notice". There was a moment of silence, the last word of the sentence, hanging in the air.

Then Drew and I looked at each other and immediately cracked up.

A/N: There you go! What did you think? Let me know! I love hearing from you guys. Anyway, onto chapter nine, right? I've given you guys two new chapters today (and completely procrastinated my homework to do so, might I add :D )

P.S. I apologize if there are any spelling mistakes. I was so eager to get this chapter up that I've only read it through like once or twice, at the most.

Until next time xx,

Holly